Students' success an inspiration to struggling peers

Saturday

Apr 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Mark Hall, who teaches technology classes at Merlo Institute, lately has displayed the spoils of his students' successes on the desk in his classroom at the small high school on the south side of Stockton.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - Mark Hall, who teaches technology classes at Merlo Institute, lately has displayed the spoils of his students' successes on the desk in his classroom at the small high school on the south side of Stockton.

Not long ago, a ninth-grade girl whom Hall declines to identify was in his classroom. Hall said the girl has struggled academically, has had serious behavioral problems, and has a tumultuous home life. But on this recent day, Hall said, the girl noticed all the medals on his desk and asked him a question.

"I want to be successful and I want to go to college," she asked. "So what do I have to do to do this next year?"

Recalling the encounter, Hall said, "She'd have never said anything like that earlier in the year. But she's seen the other kids being successful ... and she wants some of that. She wants to be successful."

The medals on Hall's desk are the rewards to Merlo students for their successful participation earlier this month in the state SkillsUSA career and technical education competition in San Diego.

Four three-member teams of Merlo students have qualified to compete in the national SkillsUSA competition in Kansas City, Mo., in late June, as have students from Weber Institute, Bear Creek High School, Lodi High School and San Joaquin Delta College.

Merlo's students worked this year on an array of projects, among them endeavors involving photography, recycling, mapping crime in Stockton and creating a map of Drug Enforcement Agency prescription-drug take-back sites in San Joaquin County. The Merlo students' map appears on the county's website.

The Kansas City-bound trio made up of Luzerito Juarez and sisters Asalia and Magali Huitron focused their effort on occupational safety and health. They conducted safety inspections of Merlo's computer lab, organized a 9/11 remembrance event and held a drug-free school poster contest, among other things.

"It really helps prepare you for the working world," the 16-year-old Magali, a junior, said of her participation in Merlo's SkillsUSA program. "It helps you with presentation skills and responsibility."

The same team of Magali, her 18-year-old sister, Asalia (a senior) and Juarez also competed in Kansas City last year, though they did not win a medal. Juarez said it was her first visit to another state and her first time on an airplane.

"It was overwhelming," said the 18-year-old Juarez, who is a senior. "This year, we're more confident about our project."

A quarter of Merlo's 240 students are classified as English learners and 84 percent qualify for free and reduced meals, based on their parents' low incomes. Many Merlo students come from the Sierra Vista housing project, one of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Hall said SkillsUSA provides many of Merlo's students an opportunity to travel and get a broader view of the world than they otherwise might.

He said the girl who showed interest in the medals on his desk recently was one of several students at the school to gain inspiration from the triumphs of Merlo's SkillsUSA performers.

"We've had many kids who are not successful asking how they can participate, as well," Hall said. "It definitely creates a relevance and a purpose."